Page 98 of Kiss and Tell

Joey crossed his arms. “Thought you weren’t interested in a long-distance relationship?”

“To be honest, I’m not. I’m hoping we can convince Lucy to come back out on the road with us because having her with us was fucking perfect.”

“What if we can’t convince her?” Joey asked.

Miles sighed. “Then I guess we’d better learn how to till and hoe and shit like that because we’ll be spending a lot of our year on that farm. How’s your southern accent?”

Joey laughed. “Yeehaw!”

“That was terrible,” he said, shaking his head.

Joey wrapped his arm around his shoulders. “So I guess there’s only one thing left to do.”

“What’s that?” Miles asked.

“We get another round to celebrate, then we get a good night’s sleep. Because tomorrow morning, you and I are driving back to Stormy Weather Farm to get our girl.”

Miles grinned.

Yeehaw!

ChapterFifteen

Lucy rubbed her forehead wearily, stepping out of the back door of the farmhouse, trying to summon the energy to walk to work. The first couple of days she was home were super busy, alternating between pulling double and triple duty at the brewery and winery and caring for relatives who’d been knocked down by the flu. Yesterday, they appeared to have rid the farm of all the bad germs—or the plague, as Nora called it—because everyone was finally out of bed, and they were back to business as usual.

Which left her with too much time on her hands. She’d made more than a few mistakes in the brewhouse over the past couple days, too distracted to keep her mind on the task at hand. Theo and Sam cornered her yesterday afternoon, concerned.

Theo had point-blank asked if Joey and Miles had been gentlemen, he and Sam more than ready to hop into a car to drive to Baltimore to open a can of whoop-ass, depending on her answer. She reassured them that Joey and Miles were wonderful…but she wasn’t sure she’dconvincedthem. Probably because it was hard to say their names aloud without her throat closing.

With the entire family well again, they turned their attention to her, holding a “welcome back” dinner last night, everyone inundating her with questions about her trip, where she’d gone and what she’d seen. After they cleared the table, she gave her family the silly souvenirs she’d bought in Nashville.

Unfortunately, with so much focus on her, it hadn’t taken her sisters and Aunt Claire long to figure out she wasn’t as cheerful as she was pretending. They’d each taken her aside at one point or another to ask if she was okay. She’d lied and told them she was just tired, but Lucy knew none of them were fooled.

“Where the hell have you been?”

Lucy twirled around, frowning when she spotted Scottie storming across the yard. She’d gotten a late start this morning, after yet another shitty night of sleep. She couldn’t understand how a person could sleep like a damn baby for twenty-eight years of her life, then have that ability wrecked in just three short weeks. Sleeping alone sucked.

“Excuse me?” Lucy didn’t have the energy for Scottie today. Hell, sheneverhad the energy for him. But, perhaps more than that, she didn’t have the right temperament. She was already late for work and trying to deal with him was going to set her back even later.

“Where have you been?” Scottie repeated when he reached her.

“You’re going to have to be more specific. I was just at the farmhouse, and now I’m on the way to the brewhouse.”

“When did you get back in town?”

Lucy wanted to tell the prick her comings and goings were none of his business, but then she decided it would be quicker to just answer his question. “Four days ago.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“Why would I?” This conversation felt like déjà vu, Scottie of the opinion lately that she had to check in with him for some reason.

Scottie put his hands on his hips, giving her that condescending sneer she knew far too well. “You want to explain to me what the hell you were thinking, leaving town with two men you barely know?”

Lucy crossed her arms. “No.”

“I think I deserve an explanation, Lucy.”

She scowled, the lid she’d barely been holding on her temper flying off. “Why the hell would you think that? We aren’t dating, Scottie. We aren’t even friends. You’re just someone that I used to know. So back off and get the hell away from me.”

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